Song of the Nightingale
by AssortedFudge
Summary: The murder of a Petty Officer in a house fire draws the team out to Norfolk to investigate. Meanwhile, Tony is in a bad mood and McGee is desperately trying to find a way around the sponsored silence Abby has bullied him into before Gibbs snaps.
1. A Bad Morning

**This is my first attempt at a casefic and is currently unbeta-d so apologies for any mistakes. Please let me know what you think!**

* * *

Ziva looked up from her computer as she heard the elevator open and raised her eyebrows slightly as she watched Tony march over to his desk, throw down his bag and drop into his chair with a loud groan.

"It looks like somebody did not have a good night last night," she said, leaning forward on her elbows as she surveyed Tony. McGee glanced over at them then went back to whatever he was doing without a word, a small frown creasing his forehead.

"My night was fine," said Tony, rooting through his desk, "It's this morning I'm having a problem with. McGee, did you take my stapler?"

Tim looked up again, shook his head, then went straight back to typing. Tony's eyes narrowed as he stared suspiciously at the younger field agent and he slammed the drawer shut.

"Why is the probie acting strangely?" he asked, turning to Ziva. McGee glared at him.

"McGee is participating in a sponsored silence," Ziva replied with a smirk.

"Let me guess…" He turned on his heel back to McGee, "Abby."

Tim rolled his eyes and nodded after a brief hesitation, causing Tony to start chuckling darkly.

"Oh I am going to enjoy this." Rubbing his hands together gleefully Tony took a seat on the edge of McGee's desk. "Say, McGoo, if you're _not _a prepubescent elf lord with no hope of losing that burdensome cherry of yours… don't say anything."

McGee clenched his jaw; the sounds of his fingers hitting the keyboard became louder as he jabbed at them.

"Leave him alone, Tony, it is for charity. Perhaps you would benefit from a sponsored silence also," Ziva commented with a smirk.

"Very funny. I was just-"

"Reliving your high school days, DiNozzo?"

Tony twisted around too violently and slipped off the desk with a yelp as Gibbs strode into the bullpen. Quickly jumping up and righting himself - ignoring McGee's smirk - Tony straightened his shirt.

"Morning, Boss. I was… just going back to my own desk." He scuttled back to his chair, throwing Ziva a dirty look.

"Don't get comfortable, we've got a dead petty officer at Norfolk. Get the truck."

Ziva caught the keys with a flourish and shot the guys a cat-like smile as she grabbed her bag.

"This morning just keeps getting better and better," Tony muttered darkly. He glanced back at McGee who was following him to the elevator. "At least I won't have to hear you screaming like a girl this time."

Seeing the doors were about to close, Tony dashed into the lift and cupped his hand behind his ear with a confused expression as McGee ran towards the closing doors.

"Sorry, did you want me to hold the door? I didn't hear you yell!" he called as the doors closed on McGee's frustrated expression.

Ziva chuckled.

"That was cruel, Tony."

"I'm in a cruel mood today, Ziva."

"I will bear that in mind." She glanced at him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Tony grimaced. "It's personal."

"You do not feel that you can tell me your personal secrets?" she questioned, arching an eyebrow as the elevator drew to a halt in its descent.

"Not this one." He edged round her as the doors opened and strode out of the lift, leaving a puzzled Ziva to stare after him.

* * *

**A/N: Feedback is always awesome if it's constructive and especially awesome if it's on characterisation. I'm working really hard on that and would really like to hear if I've pulled it off or if it could still improve. Thanks for reading.**


	2. Crazytown

Tony slammed the truck door shut and glared at Ziva as she walked past, a glint of amusement sparkling in her dark eyes. McGee stumbled out after him, looking ill.

"Remind me never to go to Israel," Tony said, swinging his backpack over his shoulder.

"And why is that, Tony?" she asked, pulling her kit out of the back.

"They gave you a licence! Any country that ruled you fit to drive clearly isn't a safe place to be."

She chuckled and walked over to join Gibbs at the entrance to the blackened house.

"Woman's a menace," Tony muttered as he gathered his own gear and followed suit. "Come on, McGreen, we've got a crime scene to process."

* * *

"Looks like the fire started in the bedroom," the burly fire chief said, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his gloved hand, "One victim, most likely the guy who owns the house. He's still in what's left of the bed."

"He did not try and escape?" Ziva questioned, noting the smoke detector on the wall in the living room, visible from the front door.

"Nope. Poor bastard must have been knocked out by the smoke, he didn't have a chance."

"What caused the fire?" Gibbs asked as Tony and McGee joined them.

"We found remains of what looks like an iron at the foot of the bed, wife could have left it on before she went to work and it overheated. It happens a lot." He paused, and then nodded behind the agents to the ambulance parked in the street. "She's over there."

"Ziva," Gibbs said.

She nodded and set off back the way she'd came. As she neared the ambulance, she saw the doors were open, revealing a woman sitting inside hunched over and crying. A paramedic tucked a blanket around her shoulders and she clutched onto it like a child's comforter.

"Mrs Hortez?" Ziva asked, drawing to a halt a foot or two away.

The blonde looked up through red rimmed and tear filled eyes. "Yes?"

"My name is Special Agent Ziva David," she replied holding up her badge, "I am sorry for your loss."

"T-Thank you. I really don't feel up to answering any q-questions just now," Hortez said, her voice trembling.

"Of course, I understand how difficult this must be for you. Anything you can tell us would be helpful," Ziva answered.

The woman sighed and wiped her eyes. "I left Randall sleeping in bed this morning when I left... around 5.30 to go to work at the hospital. Everything was... normal. I'm sorry, I don't know what to tell you that could be of any use. I just..." she stopped talking and buried her face in her hands, her shoulders heaving with sobs, "I just can't believe he's gone!"

* * *

The mayonnaise dripped down his chin and onto his shirt as he bit into the sandwich. Ziva threw him a disgusted look from the desk opposite and Tony stared back at her.

"What? I'm hungry," he mumbled through a mouthful of bread.

"You are disgusting," she replied turning back to her computer, "And you will be in the cathouse if Gibbs catches you eating instead of working."

"The word is doghouse, Ziva, and I've already done my work," he replied grimacing as he saw the stain on his shirt.

"Is that so, DiNozzo?" Gibbs walked towards his desk from the elevator and sat down as Tony threw the remainder of his sandwich into a drawer and slammed it shut.

Springing to his feet, Tony brought the record of Petty Officer Randall Hortez up onto the big screen. "Yes, Boss. Our victim-" He trailed off as Gibbs's phone started ringing.

Picking up the receiver, he asked, "What have you got, Abs?"

Tony shot a bemused look at Ziva as Gibbs listened then said, "On my way."

"Be ready when I get back," he said to Tony as he walked towards the stairs.

"Saved by the doorbell," Ziva said with a smirk as Gibbs disappeared out of earshot.

"There's no door," Tony said rubbing at the stain as he sat back down.

"What?"

"The saying is 'saved by the bell', not 'saved by the _door_bell'."

She frowned. "But a doorbell is a bell, yes?"

"That's not the point... McGee, you take over I'm too tired for this," Tony snapped opening the drawer to retrieve his sandwich. Hearing no reply, he looked over at McGee who was shrugging at him and his eyes narrowed. "This is a plan, isn't it? The two of you plotted this to drive me insane. Well, it's not working. I," he said raising the sandwich to his lips, "-am rising above it." He took a huge bite, sending mayo spraying down his front.

Ziva chuckled as Tony tossed the offending food into the bin. He rubbed his shirt with a napkin and rounded on her.

"Y'know what, forget it; you aren't driving me insane, you've already dropped me off at Crazytown and right now, I'm enjoying a nice strait jacket and four course of sedatives courtesy of the Crazytown Ritz!"

"I hear it is lovely there at this time of year, all of the blossoms on the trees," Ziva replied as McGee smiled in the corner. Sulking, Tony returned to his computer.

* * *

"Gibbs!" Abby whirled around as she felt a tap on her shoulder and beamed as she reached for the Caf-Pow in Gibbs's hand.

Holding it away from her, he looked pointedly towards the results flashing on the screen and her eyes narrowed.

"Okay, news first. There was definitely an accelerant present on the bed, specifically methyl ethyl ketone." She looked over her shoulder at him and elaborated, "It's an industrial solvent, used for manufacturing plastics, textiles, household products... the list goes on."

"Someone started the fire deliberately," Gibbs stated and Abby nodded, her pigtails swinging.

"'Good work, Abs'," she mimicked in a gruff voice and held out her hands for the Caf-Pow. Leaning forward, he kissed her lightly on the cheek and pressed the drink into her hands before heading for the door.

Smiling happily, Abby started sucking at the straw before her eyes widened and she dashed towards the door to see the elevator doors closing.

"Gibbs, Gibbs!"

A hand appeared and slammed the door back. Gibbs looked at her questioningly.

"I almost forgot: Ducky's looking for you," she called. He nodded and stepped back, letting the doors close properly in front of him. Abby turned back towards her lab.

"'Back to work, Abs'," she muttered in the same gruff voice and scuttled back into her lab.

* * *

**Stay tuned for more on Tony's problem, Ziva's frustration, Ducky's important find and some Abby and McGee banter. Mainly Abby because, y'know, Tim can't speak.**


	3. Drugged

"You know, Mister Palmer, in Greek Mythology, Hercules himself chose self-immolation as a way to die," Ducky mused as he disposed of his gloves.

Palmer looked over. "Self-immolation? He set himself on fire?"

"Well, not exactly. No, he built himself a pyre, laid down upon it and begged passers-by to light it until eventually, someone did."

"Why didn't he just light it himself? Talk about a God Complex." Palmer chuckled awkwardly, then trailed off when he saw his mentor was not sharing his mirth. "I mean... well, Hercules was a God, wasn't he? So... Agent Gibbs!" Sounding relieved, Palmer made himself scarce as Gibbs entered autopsy.

"You wanted to see me, Duck?"

"Yes, we found something rather odd in this poor fellow's bloodwork which Mister Palmer is taking up to Abby now," Ducky replied as Palmer hurried to the stairs.

"Odd?" Gibbs repeated.

"To say the least." Ducky looked down at the body stretched out on the table. "I have reason to believe that whatever Abby discovers... will prove that Petty Officer Hortez was murdered. Jethro, this man was already dead before the fire started."

* * *

Tony drummed his fingers impatiently on the desk as the hold music filtered through the receiver. "Come on, come on…" he muttered, glancing furtively around the room. McGee had jumped up from his desk and hurried wordlessly to the elevator twenty minutes before and Ziva had gone to get lunch, he only had a small window of time before-

"Thank you for holding. How can I help?"

"I'm waiting for some test results," Tony replied quickly, glancing around again.

"Your name please?"

"Tony?"

He looked up, seeing Ziva watching him, and immediately slammed the phone down.

"You have a lead?" she questioned.

"Personal call," he replied turning back to his computer.

Ziva settled back down at her desk. "About what was bothering you earlier?"

Tony stared at the screen in front of him, chewing over how to reply. Ziva frowned slightly at his silence and turned her own computer on. "Fine. You do not want to tell me what is wrong, that is your choice. I will not bring it up again."

He glanced over at her, opening his mouth to protest but shut it again at the stony look on her face as she punched her password into the keyboard. Rising from his chair, he announced, "I'm going to see Abby."

Ziva didn't reply as he marched towards the elevator but looked over as she heard the doors open. She watched Tony step in and reach to press the button, and their eyes connected as the doors closed, cutting them off.

Tony let his head fall back against the wall and grimaced. He couldn't tell her, he couldn't tell anyone. There wasn't anything to tell… yet. No. He straightened up and shook his head. No, there wasn't anything to tell because there wasn't anything wrong with him. The doors slid open and he walked out towards Abby's lab when he slowed down. Music drifted out to meet him, not an unusual occurrence, but this wasn't Abby's usual type of 'music'…

Tony entered the lab and watched as Abby shouted to McGee, "This is sad! Look _sad, _McGee!"

The music changed, cutting Tom Jones off mid-line, and starting with… more Tom Jones. Abby glanced over and caught sight of Tony by the door.

"Tony, you're here!" she called excitedly, "We can test it!"

"Test what?" Tony asked, walking into the room. McGee was frowning, again, not an unusual occurrence, and looking distinctly unhappy with the idea - which meant it would be something fun.

"Say something to McGee," Abby ordered, picking up an iPod from the counter.

Tony turned to the other man, who was starting to look nervous. "Your shoes are untied."

McGee fixed Tony with a withering look.

"No, seriously, they are. That's a hazard, McSafety."

Abby watched as McGee continued glaring at Tony and quickly scrolled through playlist until...

_"I don't believe a word you say, I don't believe. I don't believe a word you say, I don't believe. I don't believe-"_

"Alright, I get it," Tony said as McGee looked smug. "Are there any other words to that song?"

"I like it." Mimicking the deep voice of the singer, Abby joined in, "I don't believe a word you say, I don't believe."

"I don't believe the three of you aren't doing any work."

McGee, Tony and Abby froze then turned round guiltily to face Gibbs. McGee opened and closed his mouth several times before bowing his head and scuttling out of the lab. Gibbs turned sideways to let him past and turned back to Tony, eyebrows raised.

"Well, you see, Boss, I came down here to ask Abby..." he trailed off. "I'll get back to work."

"Yeah."

Abby fixed Gibbs with an innocent smile as he walked forward to join her at the desk. "Hi, Gibbs."

He looked at her pointedly.

"You want to know what I found from the blood sample"

The stare continued.

"Right." She typed something into the computer and an image of a chemical compound flashed up on the screen. "And the winner is... Rocuronium Bromide. It's a muscle relaxant, mainly used for surgical anaesthesia. This guy had enough in his system to knock out an elephant. Gibbs, if I had to guess, I'd say your bad guy works in an OR."

* * *

**After a long break and a couple of rewrites, I have finally managed to produce another chapter! Please let me know what you think :) - I, like most writers, do tend to update faster when people give feedback.**

**The song mentioned is "I Don't Believe A Word You Say" by Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite - I own nothing and make no profit.**


End file.
